


In the Caverns of Hell.

by Ginger_Spice



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Acrophobia, Angel Wings, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Castiel is a Sweetheart, Caves, Claustrophobia, Dean Whump, Dean is In Over His Head, Dean loves fudge, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hell, Hell Trauma, Hobbies, I don't know how they feel, I think?, Implied Castiel/Dean Winchester, In later chapters - Freeform, Inspired by Real Events, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Not Beta Read, Other, Protective Castiel, Sam is a child, Sam is a nerd, Science, Whump, Wingfic, Wings, but the description is how i felt, but then again so is Dean, caverns, fudge - Freeform, mention of Hell, real places
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-20 02:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7387555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginger_Spice/pseuds/Ginger_Spice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's about that time of the year that the Winchester's experience a lull in their normal lives, this year is a lot more relaxed that previous years. So much so, that even Castiel finds he isn't needed in Heaven constantly to keep the peace between his brothers.<br/>The trio take up hobbies of their own; Dean enjoys the guitar, Castiel takes to the books and Sam loves to study...</p><p>Rocks?<br/>Is that why we're here, to look at some rocks?</p><p>Well, at least the fudge is good...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Sweet Stuff

However ridiculous this felt, Dean could not deny he was curious and perhaps a bit excited to do something he’s never experienced before.

The normal hustle and bustle of a hunter’s life had entered its seemingly annual lull, cases fading into simple research projects and planning for the future. Life had succumbed to a few beers shared between the brothers as they watched terrible movies in their makeshift living room.

Talk had begun to veer away from typical hunter discussion and soon they found each other taking on new hobbies and skills as the lull eased its way through the bunker. Even Castiel, who was constantly called upon in heaven in ease tension, had found a hesitant peace between his brethren. A few weeks had gone by in the bunker in which the trio searched more of the endless rooms, finding items in both usual and unusual.

The first day of adventuring deeper into the folds of the bunker had revealed a small alchemy room in which various pots and pans were found, along with a few scattered scales of a drakon and the jaw of a vampire hung on the wall. Sam had been excited to try one of the various recipes written in the books that lined the dusty shelves, but Castiel had warned him against it, muttering something like, “tearing souls apart,” or “promotes genocidal tendencies.” Within the first week, they had found a huge room dedicated to different genres of music. In the low lit dusty room sat a grand piano, various guitars, mandolins, and a harp as well as a cello, violin and bass and some percussions. Castiel and Dean had immediately set up shop and boasted their prowess on the piano and guitar respectively. Sam had fiddled with an old violin until Dean had complained about bleeding ears, to which Castiel kindly suggested more resin.

After the second week, each had found a hobby of their own to occupy themselves with. Dean had taken to the music room to fiddle with instruments and attempt to create music of his own. His room was now constantly covered in crumpled paper that hid words that he would words that he would otherwise find hard to speak. Castiel had greeted piano like an old friend, but found that Dean preferred to be alone while in the music room. So, most of the time, he found solace in books focused in Biology as well as the vast amounts of information on world Theology. Dean would often walk in on very intense discussions between him and Sam about the differences in the Abrahamic religions as well as the various polytheistic faiths. Dean could never understand how someone could shake angels off their tail and then turn around and dive head first into their world.

For Sam, he neither found interest in law studies or mechanics as he did before, rather he expressed his interest in something that dumbfounded Dean.

Rocks.

Okay, not just rocks. It was something along the lines of biogeochemical processes or weathering and erosion, specifically the carbon cycle and the storage of carbon in the geosphere and something or other. I mean how was he even able to understand the nonsense that came out of his mouth? That wasn’t to say Dean was unintelligent, as he had long been exposed to have novels of Vonnegut under his bed, but this was something entirely different then questioning morals and interesting political statements.

This was flat out nerd shit.

And that was how they had gotten all the way out here in Townsend, Tennessee looking at rocks. He didn’t care if they were going to walk through caverns, they were rocks all the same.

Castiel had expressed interest, as he spoke of an underground waterfall called Silver Falls that he had heard of back when the humans had first discovered the caverns. It was the pleading look that made Dean crack. God damn could they work the puppy dog eyes. So flying out they went into the large mountain ranges of Tennessee, where they landed close by the entrance of the Tourist site. Surprisingly enough, the parking lot seemed to be packed with cars, all with different state license plates.

All right, maybe there was something interesting here, Dean had thought to himself. Walking towards the little shop, they were swathed in the abnormal yet pleasing aroma of shaved wood and fudge. Atop, just before the shop was a large blue sign with snowy paint that read,

“TUCKALEECHEE CAVERNS.”

Beyond the sign a stone stairway dropped down where a few parents sat as children beside them played tag in the fresh green roots of the grass. One sniff of the air had Dean’s mouth watering, and he told them he’d go ask for information on the tours, earning a scoff from Sam.

About a foots way into the shop, the temperature turned a few degrees colder.

…Okay…not good…

Dean reached his hand outside, feeling the sun’s warmth soak into his hand, his nails glinting sunlight, before pulling his hand back in. Yeah, there was definitely a significant temperature change. Dean narrowed his eyes and pulled both hands over both air spaces, when he was suddenly startled by a voice behind him.

“Don’t worry, its not ghosts.” An older woman grinned from behind the counter, a tad overweight and her brunette hair frizzy beyond compare. She looked over giant glasses that gave the illusion of staring into the eyes of a dragonfly. She leaned over the counter and Dean took that as a cue to walk over,

“I suppose you get a lot of people asking you that?” Dean followed up, with a small smile of greeting.

“Oh yeah, every superstitious person whose never been in the caverns before has asked me along some line of, ‘Have you ever seen ghosts?’ The temperature difference is just the opening to the cavern being so close to this spot,” She nodded behind Dean towards a wooden wall,

“Just over there is where the opening is,”

Dean turned his head to face the wall, and as he listened close, he could hear small fading whispers of voices, and the echo of footsteps on a rock face. The white noise of the cave, quiet, but still there, now penetrating is ear drums. Unnerving to say the least. Taking a deep breath, he looked towards the woman, who spoke once again,

“Name’s Tamara, my brother-in-law runs this hotspot. I just make sure nobody takes the fat cash he stashes for himself.”

Dean smirked, he liked this old lady,

“ I’m Dean, Dean Smith. Any idea when the next tour is? My nerdy little brother wants to look at some rocks.”

That earned a chuckle out of the woman as she opened a booklet and flipped through a few pages,

“Of course sweetheart, the next tour is in.. 30 minutes. If you could write your name and the others names here.” She said patting down at the book in front of her that was nearly filled with various signatures. Dean picked up the pen and began writing their names down on the old and slightly damp paper.

“What’s this for?” he asked, glancing up at her.

“Its so we know whose body is whose.”

Dean screwed up the ‘m’ in ‘Sam’, coughing and sputtering on his on saliva. This broke the older lady and she let out a bark of a laugh, giving Dean an amused laugh.

“Oh my god, you’re not afraid of heights, are you?”

Dean’s tongue immediately felt dry,

“Uh, w-what? Why?”

The lady blinked, her mouth opening as if to warn him but then deciding against it. “Well you’ll get over it soon enough I suppose, but I know the real reason why you came over here,” she added with a smirk She moved along the left of the counter which gave way to a large compartment of refrigerated fudges. Dean’s eyes widened with excitement and he completely forgot the previous conversation as he looked through each flavor. Seriously, how many different types of fudges can you stack in one container?

“Oh heeeell yeah!”

The woman pulled out two bins from the container and placed them on the counter, where Dean let his swept his gaze over their features almost pornographically. The woman smacked her lips and placed hand on her hip and pointed at three different stacks within the bins,

“Alright, these are all supposedly homemade, but I can’t vouch for my brother-in-law. However, these are supposedly the most sold out batches. We’ve got double fudge, the sprinkle shit for the kids and some white chocolate or something. The white chocolate is definitely white chocolate though, I snuck a little bit earlier today before we opened so I guarantee its safe pickins’, no coconut crap.”

Dean carried large boxes of fudge, his wallet $20 lighter than before over to a small picnic table where Castiel and Sam sat fiddling with their own merchandise,

“Oh hey Dean, get thi- woah. Dude, that smells amazing.” Turned his gaze from what he had laid out on the table, his eyes widening as they spotted the source of the smell.

Dean sat down at the picnic table, placing the box of fudge just under the shade of the table’s umbrella, smirking greedily,

“Yup, too bad you’re a health nut and didn’t buy stock in the fudge foundation, otherwise you would be rolling in some pretty rich shares right now,” Sam wilted, frowning at the marbles in front of him, seemingly regretting his choice of spending. Castiel flicked his gaze down at the box of fudge, narrowing his eyes in confusion,

“I did not realize you undertook gambling in the stock market, and I fail to understand how the product of said foundation grants you shares in the form of its own product.”

Dean clapped Castiel on the shoulder and sighed,

“We’ve got a special arrangement, the small business and I. They find my tastes in foods too great to pass up.”

Castiel tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, mouth open in protest before decidedly giving up with a small,

“Oh…”

Sam had pulled out his phone and was scrolling through it when he said,

“Oh is that what you were doing? I thought you were Cougar catching over there,”

Dean, about to take a first bite into his fudge, screwed up his face at the fudge before pointedly glaring at Sam,

“Oh you’re just upset you aren’t getting any of the sweet stuff, bitch.”

“Jerk,” Sam huffed, sticking his tongue out over his phone.

Castiel sighed and shook his head, pressing his lips together,

“Half of the things you two say I don’t understand. What do undomesticated African felines have to do with business dealings?”

Dean chuckled and handed Castiel a piece of fudge, who promptly sniffed it and looked up and Dean curiously. Dean nodded towards the fudge,

“Nothing, Cas. Sammy’s just being whiny over this, try it. This stuff’s pretty sweet.”

Castiel looked down at the dark fudge in his hand noncommittally before prying off a small piece in his mouth. Castiel chewed slowly, his eyes narrowed in concentration before he blinked in interest. He chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. Dean blinked owlishly before shaking himself and brightening at Castiel’s supposed interest,

“It tasted… molecular…”

Dean’s smile dropped.

“but… it was a rather nice texture. It was enjoyable.” Castiel said hurriedly, looking at the rest in his hand, before slowly putting the rest in the box, glancing at Dean guiltily. Dean sighed and closed the top and swallowed the rest of his fudge.

“So did you actually find out anything about the tours or did you just flirt with a poor old lady and steal her fudge?” Sam asked, placing his phone down on the table next to him.

Dean whipped his hands on his pants, cleaning his teeth with his tongue in a squeak,

“For the record, the fudge costed 20 bucks, and yeah, the next tours start it 10 minutes. There’s a kid that calls out for the next group, so you won’t miss your shiny rock tour.”

Sam ignored the stab and turned to Castiel, who was last minute licking his fingers of the melted chocolate out of curiosity. He didn’t seem to be lying about enjoying it, as he made sure each speck was gone clean from his hand. Dean softly cleared his throat and turned away from the scene, faking attention at the presentful confectionaries.

“How far do you think we’ll have to go to see the little beach that’s inside, or the waterfall you talked about? They said the caverns go on for miles, but the tour seems so short.”

Castiel glanced at Sam, turning his hands over, examining them,

“The beach is one of the first things we’ll see, it’s about 50 or more feet down. The waterfall is one of the last things, as that requires for us to go down _at least_ 200 feet.”

Dean froze. 200 feet down? “ _We’re going down?”_ Dean thought to himself. He supposed he felt a bit stupid for realizing this now, but he always imagined caves having horizontal entrances. Like the stuff you see in cartoons or movies. Going _down_ a cave didn’t seem practical, not with all the kids that go down there. But if they were going _down,_ that made him feel entirely different about the trip.

Dean’s stomach rolled and he pressed his lips into a fine line. He slowly shoved the fudge away from him, the scent and presentation no longer pleasing him. His actions did not go unnoticed by Castiel, who glanced up to look questioningly at him. Dean took in a quiet stuttering breath and addressed Sam,

“How far down does the cave go down?”

Sam squinted, licking his lips before opening up his phone again, seemingly to look up the website.

“Uh, I think on the brochure said something like 500 miles. We’ll be able to look down from a rock at how far down it goes. I heard they even turn off the lights.”

Dean’s stomach danced, and he paled. Fighting to stay nonchalant face, he faked an enthusiastic laugh and shifted anxiously in his seat, one a bit higher pitched than he would’ve liked to admit,

“Oh awesome, that’s great.”

Castiel, now catching on, looked at Dean with concern, before opening his mouth slightly and turning to Sam. Dean clamped his hand onto Castiel’s shoulder, who whipped his head back around to meet Dean’s gaze. Dean stared at him, silently pleading him not to say anything. This just made Castiel even more confused and he was about to say something before a young man about 20 years old blew a whistle and shouted over the screaming children.

“Alright! Anybody who is signed up for the tours, follow me inside! We need to go over rules and regulations to limit injuries and damage to the cave. Everybody signed up, inside!”

Sam stood up with a huff, signaling Dean with his eyebrows, and heading off in the direction of the shouting man. Dean let out a small staggering exhale of breath and started in the direction of Sam, before he was stopped by a reassuring familar trench coat.

“Dean, if you are afraid of heights, you do not need to go down. I know you were unenthusiastic to begin with, we will not hold you to it. There is nothing to prove by going down there. It is as you said, we would only really be, ‘looking at rocks.’”

Dean glanced in opposite directions, shifting his weight anxiously. Dean glanced into Castiel’s eyes, which were filled with glowing concern, making the hunter feel a bit better. He sniffed and said,

“I’m not afraid of heights, Cas, I… I’m afraid of falling, I guess. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, I don’t want to be left out here with the screaming kids, I’ll be fine.”

Dean gave Castiel his best reassuring smile. Castiel studied his face intensely for a moment before hesitantly nodding, suddenly very serious,

“If at any point you do slip, Dean, I shall catch you.”

Dean was stunned at his bluntness. After realizing who he was talking to, he scoffed and shook his head, smiling at the cheesiness of the statement.

“Alright man, I appreciate it.” He clapped Castiel on the shoulder and made his way in the direction of where Sam had disappeared, the angel following in suit.

The cold air had begun creeping its way up Dean’s arms, and he felt a flash of doubt slash through his chest. At his right shoulder, a tan jacket pushed itself against him glancing at him momentarily. Dean reveled in the angel’s comfort, and turned his coat collar up, pushing his hands into his pockets.


	2. Slippery Slopes and Guano

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean finds himself struggling with the descent into the cave, but with a helping hand from Castiel, he's able to climb down without becoming a human stalagmite kabob. As they relax along the 'beach,' Castiel hears bats in the distance and shenanigans ensue.

“Alright! If you make your way over here we can go over the rules and what to expect while down in the caverns; what to avoid and what we’ll be stopping to see.”

Inside a small room stood a group of people of all ages chatting energetically. The room was lit by a soft glow of a lantern light by the corner of the room. The lamplight flooded the floor, illuminating the difference in material. About 25% of the room was covered in normal wooded flooring, while the rest of it was covered in a blood splatter pattern of grey, shining rock. Among the sea of people stood a statue among the rest, his skin faded ivory and shoulders squared. Beside him stood his support, a short beam standing solid beside him, close enough as if to catch the statue if it crumbled through pressure.

Dean leaned against the back of the room, his presence seemingly forgotten by his younger brother as he listened aptly to the speaker. Castiel, however, was sticking to his promise of staying close to him, a mere yard from his side, as to not irritate him further.

Dean scanned the room with apprehensive eyes, his instincts kicking in. His eyes immediately locked on his main target; the rock whose gaping maw seemed to not immediately go down, as previously thought. Rather, this cave seemed to have a diagonal descent. Lots of rocks to hold onto…lots and lots of rocks… He began focusing on his secondary obstacles, the ones that weaved in and out of the civies, screaming raucously, he could avoid them if he stayed out of their way or left them to his supports; Sam and Castiel.

It never crossed his mind that the angel beside him could feel these intense thoughts, even if he were to walk a mile away. The angel felt himself become slightly nervous for the people around him, but reassuring himself that there was nothing that could make Dean hurt an innocent person, physically or emotionally.

“Alright, so the first thing I want to mention is that you will need to have your kids by your side the whole way through. The floors and walls of the cave are very moist and we have little to no railing on the way down, so we encourage to watch your step.”

Dean smacked the back of his head lightly against the wall of the room letting out a small groan, that was unheard by the majority over the voices in the room. _They weren’t even in the cave yet for Christ’s sake!_ He closed his eyes and took note of his breathing and heartbeat, trying to take control before he officially made his way inside.

“Also! For all of those who are uncomfortable with small spaces, you warn you in the beginning, there will be areas you need to either crouch or crawl through, unless you are less than five foot.”

_Ohhhhh, God_

_DAMNIT_

Castiel, hesitantly glanced over at the direction at Dean who was still closing his eyes, his jaw set. Castiel, upon seeing Dean’s stiff posture, excused himself from the corner of the room he came from and stood next to Dean, their shoulders brushing together. Dean flinched, his eyes flying open to look down at him. Dean released a breath he forgot he was holding, along with a mumbled apology. Castiel shook his head slightly, not making eye contact. Dean allowed himself to relax slightly in the presence of a familiar face, a phantom warmth skating across his back, feather light.

Dean hadn’t been listening to the speaker after the last announcement as he had been caught up in his own recovery, and when the group had begun to move, his breath caught in his throat. Castiel did not move until they were the last two left in the room, Sam seemingly wondered off in his nerdist fantasies. As the last person waddled into the cave, Castiel turned to look at Dean out of the corner of his eye and slowly made his way towards the cave, as if questioning him. Dean shook his head and cleared his throat, _This is stupid, you’re stupid, stop being a scaredy cat_. He took long confident strides into the mouth of the cave, past Castiel.

_Huh_

_Okay, not bad._

It was a lot cooler than the outside of the shop, he couldn’t deny that. However, the initial steps into the cave were rather anti-climactic to his mini episode. The cave was barely dark, as there were torches on each side of the small passage as well as a walk way. There was moisture dripping from the ceiling further away towards the large tourist group and the joyous voices echoing through the cave made him feel a bit more at ease. Castiel followed silently behind him, feeling his sense of relief.

A ways ahead, a voice found its way to Dean,

“Alright everybody, up ahead is a large rock above the passage so please mind you head. You may need to crouch.”

Dean pursed his lips and continued forward, still riding off the high of his relief. Castiel followed closely from behind. As they approached the rock, Dean nearly laughed in disbelief. This was hardly a crouch, and couldn’t understand why it could’ve been even considered a crawl. The rock was large, but it took barely 25% of the passage way up. Dean quickly leaned under the rock and shook his head, bewildered. It seemed to him that they had _wanted_ to make him loose his mind. Castiel soon appeared from under the rock and stood beside Dean, a small smile evident on his face. The path grew wider, and soon Dean and Castiel were able to walk side by side.

“Man, I don’t know what I got myself worked up about, this isn’t that bad. ‘Might need to crawl’ my ass…”

Dean trailed on, feeling oddly proud of himself. Castiel just smiled at the attempted mask of toughness Dean displayed, until he felt his senses feel a drop in the Earth. His smile fell and was replaced with one of worry.

“I mean it’s not even slippery. They’ve got rubber padding everywhere and all we’re doing is walking straight, I don’t… see…what…uh…”

Dean stopped In his tracks, his body going cold. The rubber padding beneath his feet disappeared, and below him were a set of wet slippery rock stairs downward without railing. The worst part; he dared no look to the left or right of the stars for fear of his own imagination. I mean, stalagmite kabobs are a funny interesting thought, when stalagmites are not within one’s vicinity.

Castiel moved past Dean onto the step in front of him, effortlessly. The damn angel didn’t seem to be afraid at all, just…worried. About what? The guy could friggin’ his ass out of there if he slipped. For the first time in his existence, Dean felt himself wish he was an angel. He shuddered at the imagery.

“Do you wish for me to help you down?” Castiel said softly, gazing up at Dean.

Dean sucked in a breath, hesitating a minute before replying with a simple,

“…No…”

Dean looked down at his feet and blinded himself from anything else. He stuck a foot out, and stepped out onto the wet stair with a soft, _tap._ Each step was like a small victory for Dean, even if he may have looked like he was walking on a tightrope, he wasn’t panicking or falling to his death. He counted that a win.

“ALRIGHT!”

The familiar loud exclamation of the young guide startled Dean out of his concentration, and his feet shifted, tumbling rocks into the abyss below him. His heart lept into his chest, his throat clogging up with something, reaching out for support. He grabbed Castiel by the wrist, who grappled him, and pulled himself up by the sheer strength of the angel. Dean stood still, his heart beating frantically, his lungs pumping shallowly.

“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch, I swear.” Dean chuckled nervously. Castiel gripped Dean’s wrist tighter, and walked down another step. Dean looked down at the next step, refusing to acknowledge the fact that Castiel was now literally _holding his hand to walk down stairs._ For some odd unfamiliar reason, Dean couldn’t bring himself to feel shame.

The rest of the steps were uneventful, and both Dean and Castiel did not let go of their grip of one another. Dean found himself humming Metallica, as they reached the bottom however, Dean cleared his throat and let go of his grip and scrubbed the back of his neck. He glanced behind him and saw the steepness of the steps that glared at him. Castiel’s eyes were lit with something warm, and odd glow of pride crossed his heart, mixed with the heavy realization that he would have to climb back up those steps. _That thought, can wait_.

Laid out in front of them was a quietly running stream, pebbles lining its path instead of a familiar limestone sand. The golden brown glow given off by the rocks reflecting the light from the lantern, gave a sense of peace. Dean found himself relaxing completely, as his feet crunched along flat ground. The stream seemed to stretch throughout the cave, as it led off into areas that turned pitch black with the lack of light. A comforting white noise drifted across his ears as he searched the crowd for his brother. Sam had taken up conversation with the guide as the tour came to a pause, allowing the guests to bask in the beauty of the caves.

Castiel took the opportunity to walk past Dean and sit along the shoreline, his eyes connecting with Dean’s. Dean crept his way up to Castiel, before kneeling down to sit cross -legged, a pop sounding from his ankles. Castiel nodded to the stream,

“The water here is an underground reservoir, where most of your consumable fresh water comes from. This water is pure, and actually drinkable left alone.” With that statement, Castiel dipped his head down to the stream, puckered his lips and began drinking straight from the stream.

“Wha- Cas?! What the-“ Dean whispered incredulously, at the sight. Glancing around him for what should have been disgusted or shocked stares, he could only find that most people were taking pictures of rock formations, or actually filling their water bottles with the stream. A lady across from them seemed to actually brought a straw with her. _A straw._

Castiel raised an eyebrow at Dean, before sitting back up and wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

“Dean, the man encouraged us to taste the water. Try it, it’s a lot smoother than the tap water I drank when I was human.”

Dean grimaced slightly, looking from the water to Castiel, who nodded encouragingly. Finally, Dean succumbed to his curiosity and bent his head to taste the water himself. It was very cold. Yet, the water had a quality he had definitely not experienced. Despite the rocks, he felt no grime collide with his teeth or tongue. In fact, the water was so smooth, he wouldn’t have noticed the change of matter, had it not been for the water’s temperature.

“I hear bats somewhere in this cave, I wonder if they will take us to see the structures of guano that have formed over several hundred years.”

Dean hastily tore back his head from the water, sputtering. He open-mouthed wiped his mouth with the back of his jacket. Disgusted protests made their way out of his mouth as he attempted to rid the taste of the water from his mouth. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw an amused Castiel biting the insides of his cheeks, his shoulders shaking slightly with failed attempts of holding in his laughter. Dean grinned open mouthed, taken aback.

“Did you jus- did I get punked? Are you in kahoots with Ashton Kutcher?” Castiel only shook his head, keeping to his silent laughter. Dean narrowed his eyes mischievously and grinned,

“No… Castiel? Joke? I must be bat shit crazy.” This earned him a loud snort from the angel, who immediately covered his mouth out of courtesy.

Dean laughed victoriously, patting the seraph’s shoulder in comradery. Castiel turned his head back into Dean’s direction, a small smirk painted across his features. Dean could almost swear, in the dim light of the cave, his eyes had sparkled. The light blue circling his pupil emitting its own light for a flash, before fading back again. Castiel’s eyes softened as he met his gaze, eyes searching his own. Dean could always feel as if whenever Castiel looked at him, he was seeing more than he could physically see of himself. At that moment, it was as if he could see more of him as well. The blue irises of Castiel’s eyes seemed to swim around in its pools, pulsating with life. They said eyes were the windows to the soul, did that apply to angels as well.

Dean was fascinated.

“Hey! There you guys are; I think I lost you on the way in the cave. Isn’t this cool? The water in here apparently hasn’t been touched in centuries, there’s little to no impurities. Oh yeah, by the way, don’t touch the water too much, they don’t like that apparently.” Sam loudly stomped his way over to the two, sitting down suddenly right in between the two. Castiel leaned back sighing, while Dean jerked back, blinking rapidly before clearing his throat and quipping back,

“What’d you do, Sammy? Try and stick your face in it? I don’t think that’s proper ‘cave etiquette.’ “Sam threw Dean a quick bitch face before nodding over to the woman Dean had noticed sipping through a straw.

“They told us we could try out the water, but only through water bottles or those filtered straws. Both options required money to be spent, and… I already spent mine,” Sam sighed quietly at the end of his sentence.

“You spent money on that bag of rocks?” Dean scoffed, “I take it back, I wouldn’t be surprised if you stuck your face in the water like the 7-year-old you are.” Sam shifted in his place, clearing his throat with a drawn expression,

“They had marbles and geodes… they’re cool…”

“Yeah, you know what else is cool? Hundred-year old bat feces. I’m looking forward to that part of the field trip.”

“Aw man, that’s disgusting.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These conversations between Sam and Dean are pretty much the conversations I have with my own little sister who is four years younger than me. Also, we're not done with Dean's suffering, we've got at least two to three more chapters to go. More whump to come.


	3. Unfinished and Always will be boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter I worked on about a year ago that I never uploaded. It's like half finished and really shitty. I don't write like this anymore, it's too forced and strays away from the main topic. I'm not going to be writing this any longer as its been a year and I've grown out of my Supernatural phase. That and my summer is filled with school work, work, more school work, film projects and school work. I'm doing a lot of shit.

It wasn’t long before the sounds of splashing died away and the shouting of children dimmed, tampered by the hushing of parents and the plastic tourists voice reverberating through the cave again. Sam had paid no attention to the pair as he hurriedly scootered to the waddling tourists, bag of rocks clanking like a pocket full of change. Dean found himself fighting a smile watching him disappear behind the outcroppings. He could almost see the old Sam in him, his little Sammy who used to bring him the bugs he found in the backyard, the Sammy who brightened up his day with his smile like an unfinished puzzle. He was glad that they had finally found a lull in dramatic cases this year, it was something they really needed after chaos. They finally felt like they were able to enjoy each other’s company again.

The quiet of the cave washed over him, and despite the nagging anxiety at the back of his mind, he felt himself unwind. The steady dripping of water from the stalactites was like aloe to his burning mind and his hypersensitivity faded away. He floated his gaze over to the figure who still sat beside him, catching his gaze. The angel’s face was soft, his eyes crinkling with a hint of a smile, his face aglow with something akin to adoration. Something behind his irises lit up a bright light blue for a moment, disappearing almost as soon as it appeared. Dean was speechless for a moment, before clearing his throat.

“Uh…Well, onwards and upwards now, right?” Dean said with a nervous chuckle.

“Well,” Castiel considered, his face suddenly serious, “In this case I believe upwards is an inappropriate word-“

“Alright asshat I was trying to be positive, let’s go.” Dean clapped Castiel on the shoulder and stood up, knees popping with strain.

-

The cave became more narrow and lit up as the two made their way to catch up to the group. As the passage narrowed, the two walked shoulder to shoulder following the sound of troublesome children.

“You know… I could get used to this… I mean aside from the drops into nothingness,” Dean began thoughtfully. Castiel regarded him kindly, head tilted in question.

“I mean it’s nice and quiet, the air feels so cool down here… and… I mean okay yeah the rocks are pretty cool.”

“The stalagmites and stalactite-?”

“Yeah those things, they’re pretty sweet. I don’t know, it’s just…peaceful… but… I dunno…”

Castiel furrowed his brow in concern, ever so slightly pressing into Dean’s shoulder. Castiel examined Dean, the constantly fluctuating colors of green and sparks of brown that intermingled with his physical figure dulled with thoughtfulness.

“It’s almost like… there’s something familiar about this…I’m not sure how to feel about that.” Dean spoke in his honey tongue. Castiel felt his grace stir and pulsate with discomfort, confusing him. He lifted a hand over his vessel’s heart as if to calm it, a habit retained from his time as a mortal. Looking back up, he saw it. There, in the center of Dean’s figure sparked a light that Castiel hadn’t seen in years. It flickered for a moment like a weak candle flame, before quickly being snuffed out by the brightest of emerald flames. Dean swallowed, shivering suddenly.

“Haha whoa, I just got the shivers. This place is totally giving me some sort of déjà vu.”

Castiel frowned slightly before pushing against Dean with his shoulder again, catching his eye.

“This feeling is of little importance, you must understand. We are in the cave here and now,” Castiel droned. Dean raised a confused eyebrow, strokes of brown and green shooting from his eyelids.

“Uh…yeah…have I actually been here before then?”

Castiel rolled his eyes and sped up his pace, walking towards the congregation of people that had begun appearing in front of him.

“No Dean, we have never been to these caverns before, I was simply trying to say that your déjà vu is unjustified.” Castiel’s head disappeared behind a group of people who had begun to take their seats alongside a large expanse of the cave wall. Dean frowned, absently rubbing at the spot on his shoulder of previous warmth.

 Taking a look around, Dean noticed the cave had opened again to another scene. Instead of a large beach, they were now standing on top of a large platform of rock that overlooked miles of the extended cave that was also lit up. Despite knowing how highly elevated he was, Dean felt no sense of panic. The cave in fact, had such an odd structure that it looked as if you could step off from the platform and onto the ground with no fall. It was almost as if he were looking a painting of the cavern itself instead of actually seeing it in front of him. However, that didn’t mean he strayed anywhere near the edge of the platform. A drop was a drop after all. For the second time that day, Dean felt a flash of something hot and almost adrenaline inducing go through him.

 He took a deep breath and frowned, turning back to the group of people. Behind him, the Tourists had almost all taken spots; the elderly sat close to the exit chuckling amongst themselves, Sam and Castiel sat beside them chatting absentmindedly and the parents and their rowdy children sat close to the edge of the platform, hugging the inside as much as possible. Dean turned toward Sam and Castiel, who and squished together to leave space for him. He flashed them a quick grateful smirk and pranced his way over to sit down. That was, until an obese elderly woman decided to take her seat right next to Sam, essentially sitting in his lap. Sam’s face twitched and his sniffed with extreme discomfort as he tried to escape the drooling lady’s personal gravity. Castiel looked up at Dean mournfully, tempting him to laugh. It was struck down with the sudden cold fluid that snaked itself down his spine as he realized the only space left was next to the children; on the edge of the platform. His face paled quickly, and he stiffly shuffled over to the children. Castiel eyed him carefully.

“Uh… Cas… Can you help? I don’t think she has her hearing aids on.”

The rambunctious devils shrieked at each other, eyes glittering with mischief and malice, shoving each other dangerously close to the edge much to the disinterest of the parents. At the sight of Dean’s arrival, they loudly hushed each other and scooted over into each other to make space for the scary man with the short hair and big jacket. Dean, unconcerned with their fear of strangers, tip-toed to the seat and carefully took his place next to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where this was going: when i went to these caves a few years ago, I sat next to some rowdy kids and at the edge of the rock face dangling over doom. They turned the lights out for a solid 5 minutes and you experienced total darkness. I was pretty cool actually, I will not lie, but I swear to god I almost died because those kids kept shoving each other and me. By the time the lights turned on, my life flashed before my eyes at least three times; so did Dean's. But the total darkness and being underground gave him Hell flashbacks and he freaks the fuck out. So everybody walks out of the room as Castiel calms him with his wings, as he remembers them from Hell and it takes him out of his episode. Then there was going to be fluff and hugs and kisses but I'm shit with that and I got bored so this is what you get. lmao

**Author's Note:**

> So this is unbeta'd, and I'm not quite inspired enough to ask somebody to read over it, so I just do a quick once over myself. That being said, if you're in a good mood and would like to point out any errors, such as a mix up in POV, grammar slipups, missing words or descriptions, please do.  
> This is based off my experiences in the same caverns, realizing that caves are fucking. terrible. In a couple weeks, we're going to go back in those dumb ass caves as well. Get ready for some shameless whump in the next chapter. Because I need to vent.
> 
> Also if my next chapter describes a panic attack, I'd like to know for future reference. All info I've searched up on them is incredibly vague and can be applied to anything.


End file.
